Key type rail anchor



Sept. 22, 1959 APPLETQN 2,905,391

KEY TYPE RAIL ANCHOR Filed Jan. 27, 1956 Magi IN VEN TOR.

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v I Q93 ANGHQRw Arthur I. Appleton,- Northbrook; Ill."

ApplicationJanuary 27, 1956; Serial-1N0: 5615739 Z Claim'S. (CI. 138%315) The present invention relatesltozrail holdingeappliances and, more specifically, toa novel trail anchor adaptedto prevent longitudinaldisplacement iofzrailroadrrails under traflic.

The tendencyof railroad railsato: moveilongitudinally or creep ahead of'a train in theicsamefiirectirmzas the train is traveling haslcmgheenknown:- Heretofore,--the approach to this problem has 'beenato provide rail anchors which grip or: clamp the=rails to;preventisuchadisplacement, each anchor acting in oneidirectiom; Theznecessity for gripping the rail at:all?times, includingzperiodspof rest and'periods-of trafiic, has introducedncompl'exity and expense into the construction of 'conventionall'rail i anchors.

One object of thepresent inventionris gtoiiprovider a novel rail anchor capable-ofopposing r-l ongitudinal rail displacement or creepage in two directions. ratherthan in just one direction;

Another object'is to provide'arailianchorrof the:=characterjust set forth and which talres .fullzadvantageof existingrailbases and tieLplates;

nited. States Patent A further object is to' provide a1 raili anchor". org-the foregoing type comprising: aesinglerunit ofixsimple; economical, and rug-ged'constructionr .1

Other obj ects and advantages of: vthe; invention: will become apparent asthe following description :proceeds, taken together with the-.accompanyingd'rawings;.wherein:

Figure 1 is-a fragmentary plantviewzshowingqaa ofrail anchors, each embo'dyingr-theiinvention;:installed on a railroad rail. 7

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view through one of the rail anchors and the rail of Fig. 1, such view. being taken-in: the planerofithe. line 4-4 as-therail anchor is being installed in place" Fig.- 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2fhl1 t showing, the. rail anchor a step further toward'its fi'IUYinstaHe'd. position.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view..,.tak'en through the. rail andrail'anchor assembly of Big. 1 along the plane of the line 4'4.

Fig. 5 is a further" enlarged-transverse sectional view through one of the rail anchors-shown. in Big. 4,-- such view being taken in the plane of the line 55 While the invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions, a preferred embodiment has been shown in the drawings and will be described below in considerable detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, the invention is there exemplified in an illustrative rail anchor 10 and in this instance two such anchors are shown, one on each side of the rail. Each anchor is adapted to engage a rail 11 and oppose longitudinal creepage of the same. ,Although the anchors 10 are shown 2* in close proximity to each other, it will be. appreciated that a wide .varietyof patterns may be followed for, irrstalling theanchors along .the rail,

Byj-way of background, it might be noted that rail 1.1 isof conventional form-comprising ahead 12,,web1 14 and aflange or base 15. Therail is mountedon artie plate 16' which, in turn, is -mounted on'a conventional wood-cross tie 18. Insthis case, the tie -plate.16 has,a' cambered seat 19 which carries the rail base 15, the seat 19*bein-g situated betweenlaterally spaceiflupstand-l' ing ribs 20. Immediately adjacent. thelseat 19,, the. tie plate 16- is provided withthe usual four substantially square holes 21 for receiving :the. hold-down .spikesgwhich engage'the rail base.- The plate 16may-alsohave, addi; tional holes 22'. for spiking it directly to,the,-tie, inde: pendently of the rail hold-down. spikes. While four spike holes 21' are customarily providedadjacentwthe rail, it is: common practice. to uselonly two -spikes, on e on eachside of thehrail base.This leaves,two spike holes 21 normallyvacanh Inconformity with the objectives set forth, earlier herein, each rail anchor 10 isfashioned asa single self contained unit whichis adaptedtooppose, longitudinal displacement or creep ofthe rail in either direction, rather than in one direction onlyn-asv inthe case, of conventional rail anchors now in .widespreadcommercial,use. This is accomplished, moreover, by taking advantage of structuralfeatures already present in the rail and tie p la'te,

Referring moreparticularly to the draWings it will be, notedthat the, rail anchor. 10 comprises-a headj24 havingra depending. stud 25 adapted -,to fit into a vacant spikehole 21. of the. tie plate. The head 24' is relatively large andheavy compared to the head of a common rail spike The: stud preferably has; a cross section comparable; to that of the hole 21 butslightly, smaller so that it has atleast some clearance Onthe side adjacent the rail. base, ,the stud .ZShasa shoulder 26 ,whichis adapted to precludelwithdrawalof the studfrom the spike hole 21 after the rail anchor has beeninstalled. The. -stud may also have one or more additionalshoulders 2621 similar to; the, shoulder 26 and. adapted to accommodate tieplates of difierent thicknesses. To facilitate installationvandinitial positioning, of the rail anchor 10; the depending: endof, the stud, 2'5is tapered sharply on two opposed sides and'tapered to a lesser extent onthe remaining two sides, thus givingthe studa wedgelike point 28., The point, 28f-is adapted to penetrate the tie 18 permitting the anchor to be driven into position by' striking the, top of the head'24'with a sledge hammer. The point 28jis offset with respect to the vertical axis of the stud 25 and. issituated'on the same side of; suchaxis as the shoulder, 26'; Thus, as the anchor isdriven into the tie, the stud 25. and shoulder 26 are caused to drift laterally' so that the. shoulder 26 will ultimately-lie under the bottom edge of the tie plate; The d'riving: of the anchor into its initial position is also facilitatedby the provision of a top surface 29 on the head and which is approximately perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the stud 25.

In order to effect engagement between the rail anchor 10 and the rail 11, the anchor head 24 is extended laterally with respect to the stud to overlie the rail base 15. The head is also provided with a transverse keyway 30 which extends in the same direction and slidably houses a key 31. In the present instance, both the keyway 30 and the key 31 are of substantially rectangular cross section. The key 31 is somewhat longer than the keyway 30 so as to project beyond the head 24. At the end of the key 31 which projects toward the rail 11, there is provided a depending foot 32 which is adapted to engage the upper surface of the rail base 15. Due to the relative shapes and proportioning of the parts, such engagement will take place after the rail anchor 24 is driven into the tie 18 as far as it will go. Such engagement is then reinforced by driving the key 31 toward the rail and causing the foot to climb the sloping surface of the rail base 15, biting in as it goes.

For the purpose of preventing retrograde movement of the key 31 after the same has been driven tight, resort is had to a relatively simple but highly efiective detent means between the head 24 and the key 31. Accordingly, the portion of the head projecting toward the rail is provided with a pair of resilient arms 34 which straddle the key and keyway 30, 31 and bear against opposed sides of the key. The opposed sides of the key 31 are formed with parallel ridges and grooves 35, 36 which extend approximately vertically and cover a substantial portion of the length of the key. These ridges and grooves coact with the resilient arms 34 in such a way that the arms 34 readily spread apart as the key 31 moves toward the rail but tend to lock or jam in response to a force tending to move the key 31 away from the rail.

The operation of the rail anchor is shown sequentially in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 and a brief synopsis thereof might be helpful at this point. Initially, the anchor 10 is placed with its stud extending into a vacant spike hole 21 in the tie plate, as shown in Fig. 2. The key 31, which is held captive in the keyway by the arms 34 and by the foot 32, is preferably in its outermost position. The anchor 10 is then driven into the tie by the use of a sledge hammer, the top 29 of the head serving as an anvil for engagement with the hammer. Due to the oflset of the point 28, the lower end of the stud 25 begins to drift toward the rail 11, eventually carrying the shoulder 26 under the bottom of the tie plate 16 due to the resiliency of the wood in the tie 18. Movement of the anchor 10 into the tie 18 finally ends when the foot 32 of the key engages the upper surface of the rail base 15, as shown in Fig. 3. The installer then hammers on the outer end of the key 31, driving the same toward the rail and causing the foot 32 to climb the sloping upper surface of the rail base 15. By reason of the positive locking engagement between the shoulder 26 and the underside of the tie plate 16, and also the binding of the stud 25 in the hole 21 due to canting of the stud therein, the head 24 becomes rigidly fixed with respect to the tie plate 16 and the rail base 15. Consequently, as the key 31 is driven toward the rail, the foot 32 bites into the upper surface of the rail base with increasing force, effectively resisting movement of the rail in either direction.

In the event that it should be necessary to remove the anchor 10 after the same has been installed, this may be accomplished by the use of a conventional spike puller. For this purpose, the head 24 is extended in a direction parallel to the rail so as to project well beyond the stud 25. By the same token, when completely installed there is a sufficient space left between the underside 38 of the anchor head and the upper face of the tie plate 16 to insert the jaws of the spike puller therebetween. Application of force to the spike puller serves to place an elevating force on'that portion of the head remote from the rail and, if sustained, causes the shoulder 26 to slip out from under the bottom of the tie plate 16. The inner edge of the shoulder may, of course, become somewhat deformed or mashed over in this process. Such a force is, of course, only the result of using the spike puller and is not encountered in normal operation or" the anchor 10.

I claim as my invention:

1. A rail anchor for holding a railroad rail against longitudinal creepage in two directions, said rail being mounted on a tie with a tie plate interposed between the rail base and the tie and having spike holes therein, said anchor comprising, in combination, a head having a keyway extending therethrough, a stud fixed to said head in depending relation therewith for extending through one of the spike holes of said tie plate into engagement with the tie, a key slidably mounted in said keyway and including means for engaging the rail base, said key being greater in length than said keyway, means defining a series of spaced apart ridges on opposite sides of said key, and a pair of resilient arms projecting from said head in straddling relation with the keyway and said key for engaging said ridges in a manner permitting movement of said key in one direction but opposing retrograde movement of said key.

2. A rail anchor for holding a railroad rail against longitudinal creepage in two directions, said rail being mounted on a tie with a tie plate interposed between the rail base and the tie and having spike holes therein, said anchor comprising, in combination, a head having a keyway extending therethrough, a stud fixed to said head in depending relation therewith for extending through one of the spike holes of said tie plate and into engagement with the tie, 'means defining at least one lateral shoulder on said stud for engaging the underside of the tie plate upon installation of said anchor, means defining an apex at the depending end of said stud, said apex being oifset from the vertical axis thereof in the direction of said lateral shoulder, a key slidably mounted in said keyway, a depending foot fixed to one end of said key for engaging the rail base, means defining a series of spaced apart'ridges' on opposite sides of said key, and a pair of resilient arms projecting from said head in straddling relation with the keyway and said key for engaging said ridges in a manner permitting movement of said key in one direction but opposing retrograde movement of said key.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 834,682 Rhodes Oct. 30, 1906 1,212,217 Harrigan Jan. 16, 1917 1,214,689 Laas Feb. 6, 1917 1,267,543 Harris May 28, 1918 2,254,540 Myer et al. Sept. 2, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS 719,140 Germany Mar. 30, 1942 

